Brexit and political instability made for a challenging 2019 for the home improvement market. But with consumer confidence starting to return post-Brexit, 2020 is looking a lot more positive for installers. That’s the view of Andy Royle, co-founder and director of Leads 2 Trade, provider of double qualified sales leads to installers in the home improvement sector, including fenestration.
There is no doubt that Brexit and several political events caused the home improvement market to take a hit from March 2019, impacting on the number of leads and making for a hugely challenging year for installers.
With Brexit delayed at the end of March and again in the middle of April, these events caused significant levels of uncertainty for much of the general public, negatively impacting consumer confidence and spending.
But, now that we have a clear mandate, consumers are thinking and behaving more positively due to that certainty. And we have already seen the difference since the start of the year.
An uplift in volume
Our stats from the first six weeks of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 clearly show that consumers are willing to spend on home improvements.
This year we have already seen a 94.10% rise in on-line enquiries from our home improvement website assets from homeowners looking to obtain quotes for their home improvement project.
Double glazing has shown a healthy increase up by 24.33% on the same period last year.
There was an even bigger rise in the number of enquiries for retrofit conservatory roofs, with an unprecedented increase of 353.56%.
These huge increases for conservatories and retrofit roofs demonstrate that people want to spend money on their homes, particularly on big ticket items.
Our SEO and marketing teams have analysed data from two of our bigger assets – Double Glazing on the Web and Conservatory Online Prices – comparing January 2019 to 2020, to see if there are any significant changes that could be seen to reflect wider shifts in the market for consumer confidence as a whole.
It shows a 50.22% increase on leads this January compared to last January, and if we break down this figure and compare leads for specific products then there have certainly been increases in specific categories.
For example, we have seen an increase in leads for the following: +18.18% for conservatories; +75.3% for casement windows; +54.76% for front doors.
Indeed, there are several search terms in the sector which have been consistently trending upwards over the last 10 years, such as glazed extension and single storey extension and, thanks to a much more varied option of materials and the relaxation of planning laws, we expect this trend to continue.
However, despite being only a few months into 2020, the market clearly is up and there’s no doubt that the political and financial uncertainty felt by consumers in 2019 will be alleviated as we move forward.
Results from further into the year moving forward will surely show this, meaning the market will be in a better place for 2020.
Good news for installers
Whether it’s consumer confidence in the market post-Brexit or the comparative rankings of search terms that have contributed to the upturn of leads, it’s great news for installers, who should see an increase in sales and new business as a result.
Now is a fantastic time for installers of any size to join the Leads 2 Trade members network and take advantage of these double-qualified sales leads – so they don’t miss out.
Leads 2 Trade’s double qualified leads are passed onto members of its popular Trusted Local Supplier network, in postcodes of their choice. Members can also take advantage of premium lead delivery methods, including pre-qualified hotkey telephone leads and a revolutionary appointment booking service. For more information on Leads 2 Trade, telephone 0800 124 4308 or visit https://leads2trade.co.uk
